This was a refreshingly simple and straightforward postscript to the little tempest in a teapot football fans have all been caught up in and Patriot fans have had to endure for the last 3 months. All the tortured spin and revisionist re-hashing this week will be about one thing and one thing alone, media outlets and individual mediots who fueled this tempest saving face. Most are pointing their bony fingers at Tomase and the Herald. On behalf of ESPN, Mort is also blaming Walsh for selfishly allowing innocent mediots to make foolish assumptions. Others are blaming Goodell for that as well citing his mishandling the entire matter. A few die hards will simply refuse to acknowledge the inevitible. But at the end of the day it's all about saving face now, as bitter a pill as that is to swallow for those who thought/hoped they had brought the greatest football mind in a generation to his knees...

"The black hat fit Bill Belichick so well.

Of course, anyone who wins as much and as easily as he does has to be cheating, right? Cheating more than he would admit.

Why, he has shifty eyes. He smiles infrequently and talks in a monotone. He wears drab gray hoodies and he once cut Bernie Kosar. He offers little to reporters at news conferences but piles it on hapless opponents. His cold, cold heart allows him to bench heroes like Drew Bledsoe and brush past losing coaches during the traditional postgame handshake.

Some also suspect he is responsible, directly or indirectly, for world hunger, the declining housing market and pollution.

So after the Patriots coach admitted to stealing other teams' signals with videotape, Belichick essentially was accused of stealing the Rams' game plan before Super Bowl XXXVI, as well as a Tootsie Roll Pop from a toddler walking through the team hotel.

On the day before the most recent Super Bowl, the Boston Herald ran a story stating a member of the team's video department taped the Rams' final walk-through on the day before the 2002 Super Bowl.

Matt Walsh, the former video assistant for the Patriots who was negotiating with the league about information he claimed to have regarding the tapings, did not deny the allegation. And the controversy was fueled by grandstanding U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).

With the way it's starting to look, that black hat fits Specter, Walsh and the Herald better than it fits Belichick.

Today, the whole scenario is reminiscent of Al Capone's vault. Titillate the masses, create a spectacle and find nothing.

Playing the role of Geraldo Rivera was Specter...

Understand this about Arlen Specter, he has been involved in battling the NFL on the television front as the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee...The reason for his interest might be that the league-owned NFL Network has held Comcast and its subscribers hostage and Comcast is one of Specter's largest campaign contributors.

As for Walsh, he should have defused this situation by issuing a statement saying he did not have a tape of the Rams' walk-through...

The Herald meanwhile, bit on a story that more responsible media outlets did not...

Assuming there is no revelation from Walsh on Tuesday, Belichick still will be regarded as the NFL's best coach on Wednesday. The Patriots of the last seven years still will be regarded as one of the most amazing dynasties in NFL history.

The Patriots probably benefited from videotaping signals. But do not believe the course of football history was altered by Walsh's camcorder. Remember â€” every team in the league was stealing signals "legally" over the same period of time by assigning an advance scout to monitor the sidelines from the press box.

Yes, the Patriots broke a rule. And they paid a heavy price for it.

But Belichick's reputation won't be sullied by this affair as much as the reputations of some others."

Honestly, it's nice to see ANYONE in the media thinks like that, but in reality he couldn't be more wrong. Unfortunately Spygate WILL follow BB for the rest of his career, and it will most definitely leave a taint on his/our legacy. No matter what happens from this point forward, the majority of the public will always believe Belichick and his Patriots teams cheated to win. It sucks and it's frustrating as HELL... but it is what it is.

PLEASE - CAN WE CHANGE 'SPYGATE' TO 'CAMERAGATE' both in the title and all references?

I mentioned this in another thread: 'spying' has a negative connotation of doing things secretively - which we did not - and can unconciously led the reader to categorize what we did as one of the ways of 'cheating'.

As fans, let us insist on terming it in the right manner and not what the media wants us to.

Honestly, it's nice to see ANYONE in the media thinks like that, but in reality he couldn't be more wrong. Unfortunately Spygate WILL follow BB for the rest of his career, and it will most definitely leave a taint on his/our legacy. No matter what happens from this point forward, the majority of the public will always believe Belichick and his Patriots teams cheated to win. It sucks and it's frustrating as HELL... but it is what it is.

Click to expand...

You're just saying that because you're assessing the situation emotionally in the here and now. Pompei understands that time will bring perspective to reality. We've already seen that happen on many fronts with this matter. By the time he and Brady walk off into the sunset, this will be a tiny print postscript that will be glossed over by any who even bother to acknowledge it. Remember, Shannahan and Elway cheated the cap to win two titles. Aside from us, who do it defensively, who even chooses to recall that less than a decade later...

As Michael Holley pointed out yesterday, in ten years techlology will have advanced to the point that folks will chuckle when they recall the days when hystrionics erupted over someone utilizing video tape to bolster their advance scouting. Last night a visibly downtrodden Rich Eisen was still struggling to grasp what advantage we gained through taping, because there had to be one. Efficiency - that was it Rich. That's all it ever amounted to, but that was enough to make it worth Bill's while. Just like it was more efficient for the fledgling NFLN to install team cams at 32 facilities than it would have been to hire another half dozen camera crews and shuttle them across the country non stop when they wanted to talk nightly to specific individuals at any of 32 locations. Bill saved countless coaching manhours that could be better spent elsewhere by having a moron tape what as many as three of them would have been forced to focus on for three plus hours in a simple effort to detect opposition coaching trends. He knew about the rule, but he also understood the spirit in which it was enacted, he knew it was intended to circumvent in game use and not to limit teams from observing what was occuring in plain sight. The entire league revolves around film study and those who make the best use of it seem to fare better than the rest.

The people who don't get it are the same ones who don't grasp what great coaching is. It's not about motivational speaking, it's not about being universally loved, it's not about being a great guy to share a hug and a shmooze with. It's analysis and preparation and innovation and efficiency and execution and effort and discipline. From the draft to the camps to the season and the post season it's serious business. No coach gets to this level without a full grasp of the X's and O's. It's all the other aspects of best implementing them that seperates the good coaches from the great coaches. Few if any of the great ones were universally beloved in their lifetime - because they were too busy being visionaries - driven and focused on more pressing issues like making their team better every day utilizing every available means at their disposal.

Unfortunately the media historically fails to grasp the fact that you don't get to talk to the great ones much until they hang up their coaches whistle. And generally speaking, at that time, the next generation of media eventually explains to the current masses at that time how they were just misunderstood. When Bill goes into the HOF in 2020 or so, half the media (not to mention internet fanatics) who helped shape his black hat image will be six feet under or dribbling applesauce on themselves in nursing homes. And they will have been replaced by guys (and fanatics) who never had a personal axe to grind with Bill Belichick. They will tell you how his players loved him because he was always honest with them, he worked as at least as hard as he demanded they work, and he put them in a position to win. They will chronicle what a genius he was and how he turned a lackluster franchise into a dynasty and model of efficiency for an entire league. Patience. The league that slapped him for doing his job too well in 2006 will be naming awards after him when all is said and done.

You're just saying that because you're assessing the situation emotionally in the here and now. Pompei understands that time will bring perspective to reality. We've already seen that happen on many fronts with this matter. By the time he and Brady walk off into the sunset, this will be a tiny print postscript that will be glossed over by any who even bother to acknowledge it. Remember, Shannahan and Elway cheated the cap to win two titles. Aside from us, who do it defensively, who even chooses to recall that less than a decade later...

As Michael Holley pointed out yesterday, in ten years techlology will have advanced to the point that folks will chuckle when they recall the days when hystrionics erupted over someone utilizing video tape to bolster their advance scouting. Last night a visibly downtrodden Rich Eisen was still struggling to grasp what advantage we gained through taping, because there had to be one. Efficiency - that was it Rich. That's all it ever amounted to, but that was enough to make it worth Bill's while. Just like it was more efficient for the fledgling NFLN to install team cams at 32 facilities than it would have been to hire another half dozen camera crews and shuttle them across the country non stop when they wanted to talk nightly to specific individuals at any of 32 locations. Bill saved countless coaching manhours that could be better spent elsewhere by having a moron tape what as many as three of them would have been forced to focus on for three plus hours in a simple effort to detect opposition coaching trends. He knew about the rule, but he also understood the spirit in which it was enacted, he knew it was intended to circumvent in game use and not to limit teams from observing what was occuring in plain sight. The entire league revolves around film study and those who make the best use of it seem to fare better than the rest.

The people who don't get it are the same ones who don't grasp what great coaching is. It's not about motivational speaking, it's not about being universally loved, it's not about being a great guy to share a hug and a shmooze with. It's analysis and preparation and innovation and efficiency and execution and effort and discipline. From the draft to the camps to the season and the post season it's serious business. No coach gets to this level without a full grasp of the X's and O's. It's all the other aspects of best implementing them that seperates the good coaches from the great coaches. Few if any of the great ones were universally beloved in their lifetime - because they were too busy being visionaries - driven and focused on more pressing issues like making their team better every day utilizing every available means at their disposal.

Unfortunately the media historically fails to grasp the fact that you don't get to talk to the great ones much until they hang up their coaches whistle. And generally speaking, at that time, the next generation of media eventually explains to the current masses at that time how they were just misunderstood. When Bill goes into the HOF in 2020 or so, half the media (not to mention internet fanatics) who helped shape his black hat image will be six feet under or dribbling applesauce on themselves in nursing homes. And they will have been replaced by guys (and fanatics) who never had a personal axe to grind with Bill Belichick. They will tell you how his players loved him because he was always honest with them, he worked as at least as hard as he demanded they work, and he put them in a position to win. They will chronicle what a genius he was and how he turned a lackluster franchise into a dynasty and model of efficiency for an entire league. Patience. The league that slapped him for doing his job too well in 2006 will be naming awards after him when all is said and done.

You're just saying that because you're assessing the situation emotionally in the here and now. Pompei understands that time will bring perspective to reality. We've already seen that happen on many fronts with this matter. By the time he and Brady walk off into the sunset, this will be a tiny print postscript that will be glossed over by any who even bother to acknowledge it. Remember, Shannahan and Elway cheated the cap to win two titles. Aside from us, who do it defensively, who even chooses to recall that less than a decade later...

As Michael Holley pointed out yesterday, in ten years techlology will have advanced to the point that folks will chuckle when they recall the days when hystrionics erupted over someone utilizing video tape to bolster their advance scouting. Last night a visibly downtrodden Rich Eisen was still struggling to grasp what advantage we gained through taping, because there had to be one. Efficiency - that was it Rich. That's all it ever amounted to, but that was enough to make it worth Bill's while. Just like it was more efficient for the fledgling NFLN to install team cams at 32 facilities than it would have been to hire another half dozen camera crews and shuttle them across the country non stop when they wanted to talk nightly to specific individuals at any of 32 locations. Bill saved countless coaching manhours that could be better spent elsewhere by having a moron tape what as many as three of them would have been forced to focus on for three plus hours in a simple effort to detect opposition coaching trends. He knew about the rule, but he also understood the spirit in which it was enacted, he knew it was intended to circumvent in game use and not to limit teams from observing what was occuring in plain sight. The entire league revolves around film study and those who make the best use of it seem to fare better than the rest.

The people who don't get it are the same ones who don't grasp what great coaching is. It's not about motivational speaking, it's not about being universally loved, it's not about being a great guy to share a hug and a shmooze with. It's analysis and preparation and innovation and efficiency and execution and effort and discipline. From the draft to the camps to the season and the post season it's serious business. No coach gets to this level without a full grasp of the X's and O's. It's all the other aspects of best implementing them that seperates the good coaches from the great coaches. Few if any of the great ones were universally beloved in their lifetime - because they were too busy being visionaries - driven and focused on more pressing issues like making their team better every day utilizing every available means at their disposal.

Unfortunately the media historically fails to grasp the fact that you don't get to talk to the great ones much until they hang up their coaches whistle. And generally speaking, at that time, the next generation of media eventually explains to the current masses at that time how they were just misunderstood. When Bill goes into the HOF in 2020 or so, half the media (not to mention internet fanatics) who helped shape his black hat image will be six feet under or dribbling applesauce on themselves in nursing homes. And they will have been replaced by guys (and fanatics) who never had a personal axe to grind with Bill Belichick. They will tell you how his players loved him because he was always honest with them, he worked as at least as hard as he demanded they work, and he put them in a position to win. They will chronicle what a genius he was and how he turned a lackluster franchise into a dynasty and model of efficiency for an entire league. Patience. The league that slapped him for doing his job too well in 2006 will be naming awards after him when all is said and done.

Click to expand...

Man, I sure hope you're right. I just can't see it playing out like this. Not right now anyway. Hopefully that out look will change over time.

"....With the way it's starting to look, that black hat fits Specter, Walsh and the Herald better than it fits Belichick.

......Today, the whole scenario is reminiscent of Al Capone's vault. Titillate the masses, create a spectacle and find nothing.

Playing the role of Geraldo Rivera was Specter, who used the forum of Super Bowl week to criticize NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for his handling of the issue and subsequently met with Goodell.

Understand this about Arlen Specter, he has been involved in battling the NFL on the television front as the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He has challenged the league's antitrust exemption that allows it to negotiate broadcast rights for all 32 of its teams.

The reason for his interest might be that the league-owned NFL Network has held Comcast and its subscribers hostage and Comcast is one of Specter's largest campaign contributors.

.......Remember â€” every team in the league was stealing signals "legally" over the same period of time by assigning an advance scout to monitor the sidelines from the press box.

Yes, the Patriots broke a rule. And they paid a heavy price for it.

But Belichick's reputation won't be sullied by this affair as much as the reputations of some others."

May Tuesday bring exonerfication as our good friends in the press say...

If so, this will be the tenor of everybody not on ESPN... and eventually, even them.

And once the distraction is over and the dust clears, rather than looking around at ohhhh there's this team and that team and the Pats, who we don't really have to think about/factor in because they're a whole nother kind of story...

They'll look around, realize there was a team a velcro helmet from perfection last year... and it just got better.